Also that guitar just dont look metal...as much as it sounds gay its an important factor. its gotta look tough if ur playing tuff music. If ur spending a bit of money just on the guitar then get a jackson rg with a reverse head stock...very tough indeed!!!

Personally I don't give a damn about the look of the guitar. It's really a matter of tone and feel. Unfortunately, I haven't played that particular guitar. I do, however like the Ibanez RG1570 (the only one they make left-handed ). Right now I play a Schecter C1, and the tone is good for metal, as well as versatile; the neck is not as flat or wide as it could be, but the action is very low without buzz, even in lower tunings.

BC Rich is crap unless you go for the NJ models. Even then, you can get better guitars. You pay for the shape.

Schecters are great, as are some Ibanez (RG 3** and up) and a few Jacksons may be alright. Check into Cort too. You may be able to find a decent Washburn. Like the X30/50, and some seven stringer a friend of mine got from music123, at 72% off. You don't usually want to go under $300 USD for a guitar, even if it's for a beginner.

If it feels good to you, and it sounds good, then it's good. Tonewood, especially in that price range, is B-grade and incredibly inconsistant, as is quality control for most companies. You don't want to buy one sight unseen, it's a pretty big risk. One guitar may be great, and another one of the same model may be rubbish. I remember a story about Tom G Warrior, who says his favourite guitar is a cheap $200 or so guitar his friend bought him as a present, and even the multi-thousand dollar guitars he bought afterwards weren't as good.

That AXS guitar is all mahogany/agathis, so it will be all lows and lower mids and not as much in the high department.

If you want my advice, go and try it out at your local store and buy it there if you like it. Pick each note on each string and let it sustain - see how smooth it is and how long it sustains for. If it wavers too much, then the electronics or the neck joint is bad quality. If it only wavers slightly or not at all, then that's an indication of decent craftsmanship. Check for fret buzz and other abnormalities. If you don't like it, try out a Schecter Omen 6.

The pickups can be (and usually are) changed after a while as an upgrade. Unless you look into the high end guitars, or the mid-priced Schecters that come with Duncans, you probably won't get good stock pickups.

Wolfbane

I'm actually looking into some now. But my bass will be used for more than just metal.

From what I gather, you don't need a top quality bass for metal. You need something that will cut through the mix. 5 string is recommended.

I've got my eye on a Cort B5 - very good value for money. I'm also looking at a Schecter Custom 5. The Yamaha's seem to be the best value for money with great quality control.

The main problem for me, when choosing a bass, is standard pickup sizes. There is no universal standard. So upgrading stock pickups can be a problem. The Schecters with EMG HZ's and the ESP's with EMG HZ's have good upgrade potential. There's other numerous active EMG's you can replace them with, and active Duncans too. The Cort B5 has Bartolini MK1's, which are an irregular shape, but they may be good enough to not require a pickup change in a year or two. If they do, the Bartolini P2's and the Duncans that are meant to replace them, are only 2mm skinnier, so all that will be needed is one or two small holes drilled. I'm sure Bartolini can also make other pickups to fit the MK shape if needed.

Other issues include weight, scale length and neck diving. Weight can be an issue if you have back problems. Increased scale length is supposed to add more tension to the B string, giving it more definition and tone. However, the quality of the bridge, nut and neck joint affects it more.

I'm a lefty bassist, myself. Although I'm not exactly the female version of Les Claypool, I'm not too horrible with the bass, either.

I play a Samick. Before you roll your eyes and assume that I'm a schmuck, let me say that my bass is most excellent for playing Metal. (Death Metal is my genre of choice.)

Since Samick doesn't have any models that they automatically build for lefties, I had to special order it. It was well worth the wait, though. The bass is not only gorgeous, but the sound that comes from it is pretty damned amazing.

I play the Tabu model. I shopped around quite a bit before I finally decided on the Samick. It was priced in the same neighborhood as the other brands, but the fact that it's got a Mahogany neck-through-body was a feature that I really liked about it. Plus - the shallow girly side of me thinks that it looks badass, and I didn't want a bass that looks less than badass.

Anyway, my point is that Samick really does make decent products, and I would highly recommend them to anyone who is in the market for a new bass.

I don't have any personal experience with Ibanez, I've always used B.C. Rich (bodys), but every B.C. guitar I buy, I gut immediately. The stock hardware SUUUUCKS. I've found the best sound out of the EMG active ZW set up 81/85.